Legendary pianist Leon Fleisher represents the gold standard of musicianship and, at 85 years young, he continues to impart his life-affirming artistry throughout the world, thriving in a sustained career as conductor and soloist, recitalist, chamber music artist, and master class mentor. Mr. Fleisher made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1944 and in 1952, he became the first American to win the prestigious Queen Elisabeth of Belgium competition, establishing himself as one of the world’s premier classical pianists. At the height of his success, he was suddenly struck silent at age 36 with a neurological affliction later identified as focal dystonia, rendering two fingers on his right hand immobile. Rather than end his career, Mr. Fleisher began focusing on repertoire for the left hand only, conducting and teaching. Not until some forty years later was he able to return to playing with both hands after undergoing experimental treatments using a regimen of rolfing and ‘botulinum toxin’ injections. Highlights of Mr. Fleisher’s 2013-2014 season in this country include appearances as soloist with the Boston Symphony with Kazushi Ono, the Chicago Symphony with James Conlon, and the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall with Jaime Laredo conducting some of the country’s most gifted young (15 to 22 year-old) musicians. […]
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Andrei Gavrilov was born in Moscow in 1955 in the artistic family. His father Vladimir Gavrilov was a great painter, mother pupil of Henrich Neuhaus was his first teacher. He graduated central music school in Moscow in 1973 where he studied with Tatiana Kestner. Later this year he entered Moscow conservatory where his teacher was Lev Naumov. Andrei Gavrilov won first prize in the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of 18 and in the same year made a triumphant international debut at the Salzburg Festival, substituting for Sviatoslav Richter. He has subsequently enjoyed a distinguished international career which has included performances with many of the world’s greatest orchestras. He made his London debut in 1976 with Paavo Berglund and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in the Royal Festival Hall. In 1978 he performed with the Berlin Philharmonic in a major European concert tour of 30 concerts. By 1980 he had performed in all the major cultural centers in the world. Andrei Gavrilov made a triumphant return to the British concert platform in 1984, after a politically enforced absence, giving recitals at the Barbican and the Royal Festival Hall. He successfully petitioned Mikhail Gorbachev for his freedom, and became the […]
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Paul Badura-Skoda was born in 1927 in Vienna, where he received his primary training. His most important teachers were Viola Thern and Otto Schulhof in Vienna and later Edwin Fischer in Switzerland. In 1948 he graduated from the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien (Conservatory of the City of Vienna) with the highest distinctions in both piano-playing and conducting. (That he is also among today’s eminent conductors is sometimes obscured by his earlier success as a pianist.) The beginning of his career was marked by three events: In 1949 both Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan engaged the still-unknown young artist as soloist for their concerts in Vienna. In 1950 he substituted for the ailing Edwin Fischer at the Salzburg Festival on short notice, immediately becoming an international celebrity. Yet perhaps his longest-lasting success was due to his recordings for the long-playing record, then a new medium. His early recordings on LP, starting also in 1950, brought him worldwide recognition, so much so that his first recital in New York took place before a capacity audience, one that had known him only through his recordings. His international career started with three large concert tours, in Australia in 1952, USA and Canada in […]
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Heasook Rhee has been a faculty member in Piano Chamber Music and Accompanying at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City since 1998. A leading music publisher in the US, Carl Fischer Music published her book “The Art of Instrumental Accompanying” in May 2012. She taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Detmold Musikhochschule in Germany, and gave master classes at universities such as Indiana University in Bloomington, Boston University, University of Houston in the US, Beijing Central Conservatory, Shanghai Conservatory, Shenyang Conservatory in China, Taiwan National Normal University in Taipei, Seoul National University, KNUA, Yonsei and Sungshin University in Korea. As a collaborative pianist, Dr. Rhee has performed with many noted artists of our time, including violinists Ivry Gitlis, Ilya Grubert, the late Mitchell Stern, Peter Zazofsky, cellists Jiri Barta, Marcio Carneiro, Charles Curtis, Karine Georgian, the late Samuel Mayes, Nathaniel Rosen, Jian Wang, Tilmann Wick, tenor Nikolai Gedda, bass-baritone Simon Estes, soprano Youngok Shin, flutist the late Julius Baker and saxophonist Harvey Pittel. Her performances have taken her to many distinguished concert halls over the world. She has toured in the United States; performing at the Stern Auditorium and Weill Recital Hall at […]
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Czech pianist and teacher, Martin Ballý has performed throughout the Europe as a recitalist and chamber musician. He studied with Erna Grünfeld at Prague Conservatory. He graduated from Academy of Performing Arts in Prague where he studied with Czech legendary pianist Josef Palenicek. He also studied a chamber music with members of Vlach String Quartet. Martin Bally was a founding member of the ARS Trio with two other soloists. In addition to their international touring they have recorded many recordings for Panton, Czech TV and Czech Radio. They also recorded a critically acclaimed album of Antonin Dvorak’s complete piano trios for BNL label. He is a jury member in numerous piano competitions. He teaches at Jan Neruda Music Gymnasium and Prague School of Music – the ones of Czech Republic’s most distinguished music institutions. His students have been the recipients of numerous national and international awards. During the summer he is a teacher at the South-Bohemian International Summer Festival.
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As a laureate of some of the most prestigious international competitions (Bolzano 1967, Naples 1968, Bach Competition Leipzig 1968, Warsaw 1970, Barcelona 1970, Fort Worth, Texas 1973, Santander 1976), he became a much sought after soloist and chamber musician while still a student at Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts. Since that time he has notched up over 4,000 concert appearances on four continents. He has performed most frequently in Germany, Switzerland, the UK, France and Spain; every year he gives concerts in South America, and he also visits the US, Canada and Japan. As well as performing, Ivan Klánský is also extremely successful as a teacher. Since 1983 he has been a professor at the music faculty at the Academy of the Performing Arts in Prague; since 1997 he has been head of the institution’s keyboard instrument department. Among his most important students have been the winners of the Prague Spring International Music Competition Martin Kasík and Ivo Kahánek. Since 1991 he has also been professor at the Music University Lucerne in Switzerland. As well as that, he gave master classes in Dublin (1982-1986) and Bad Saulgau (from 1997). He had himself studied under Valentina Kameníková (1963-68) at the Prague […]
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Artistic Director PMP, Czech pianist JAN BARTOŠ belongs to a new generation of outstanding artists, his performancesconsistently winning critical acclaim. Critica Classica described him as “ an emotional and sophisticated interpreter “. Il Roma wrote: “ Bartoš is one of the best emerging European pianists. In his own right, the first-class host enchanted everyone with the colorfulness and might of his sound, which he produced with easiness and refined impeccability “. The renowned music critic Bernard Jacobson wrote after Jan’s performance: “ Bartoš played an impressive set of Preludes by the unjustly neglected Czech composer Miloslav Kabeláč, following it with a compelling reading of Brahms’s F-minor Sonata. This, clearly, is a young pianist to look out for “. Jan Bartoš is the First Prize Winner of many international competitions, which include the 2009 Mieczyslaw Munz Competition in New York, the 2008 Zaslavsky-Koch Piano Competition in New York, the 2004 Peter S. Reed Award in New York, the 2006 Rotary Musikförderpreis in Germany, and the 1999 Concertino Praga in the Czech Republic, in addition to receiving the 2012 Schimmel Prize in Germany, the 2008 Czech Ministry of Culture Prize, and the 2007 Rucorva Trust Award in the Netherlands. Jan studied with renowned artists and teachers – in the Czech Republic with Ivan Moravec, […]
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Slovakians premier cellist Ludovit Kanta was born in Bratislava. He studied at Konzervatorium Bratislava under Professor Gustav Vecerny, and at Academy of Music Arts Praha under Professor Alexander Vectomov, member of the original Czech Trio. In 1977, he won the first prize in the Hradec Opava Beethoven Competition and in 1980 was awarded the 2nd prize. In 1982, he was appointed 1st solo cellist with the Slovakia Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 1990 he has been Principal Solo Cellist with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan. And he had taught at Aichi Prefecture University of Arts Nagoya, Japan. Kanta has toured as a soloist through Europe, U.S.A. and Asia, with Maestro Hiroyuki Iwaki, Valery Gergiev, Zdenek Kosler, Dmitrij Kitajenko. He has also given solo recitals in major cities including Tokyo, Chicago and Washington D.C.. He has also been invited to international music festivals, competitions and/or seminars including Japan Music Competition, Affinis International Music Festival, Ishikawa Music Academy, Prague Spring, Bratislava Music Festival and Katja Popovas Laureates Days in Pleven. Among his many solo recordings include the concertos of Haydn and Boccherini on the NAXOS label. His latest recording of the Kodaly Sonata for Cello Solo has been critically acclaimed and was featured […]
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Violinist Petr Maceček graduated from the Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts where he studied under the tutelage of Václav Snitil, member of legendary Vlach Quartet. He won several domestic violin competitions as well as the Henryk Wieniawski Competition in Poland. Between 1988-1983 he was concertmaster with the Slovak Chamber Orchestra (B. Warchal) , 1994 – 1997 concertmaster and artistic leader / soloist of the Suk Chamber Orchestra and the Prague Chamber Orchestra. He has done many recordings for Naxos, Vox Classics, Koch discovery which are higly appreciated by the critics. He has been giving also solo and chamber concerts with his piano trio Mr. Maceček is member of world-renowned Talich Quartet. The Talich Quartet performs to great acclaim in Europe, Japan North and South America. They are regularly invited to prestigious chamber music festivals and venues such as Carnegie hall, Paris Champs-Ellysses, Salle Gaveau, Lyon, London’s Wigmore hall, the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, Europalia Festival, Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo, Tibor Varga in Sion, Prague Spring Festival, International String Quartet festival in Ottawa and others.
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Pianist Norbert Heller graduated from Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts where he studied with Ivan Moravec and Josef Vlach, the founder or legendary Vlach String Quartet. He has performed in many countries in Europe and around the world including the United States (Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, Phoenix) and Japan (Nagoya, Osaka, Casals Hall in Tokyo). Besides recitals, he has regularly accompanied renowned instrumentalists and singers, and collaborated with various chamber ensembles. An impressive number of his recordings include Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Smetana, Shostakovich, Mussorgsky, and others. His outstanding recording of Schubert’s sonatas played on a period Conrad Graff “hammerklavier” received the Best Recording of the Year Award by the Czech Music Foundation. Norbert Heller is the first Czech pianist ever to record the complete Sonatas by Mozart. In 2001, he was awarded the European Union’s Gustav Mahler Prize. From 2003, Norbert Heller partnered with violinist Gabriela Demeterová, with whom he currently finished recording the complete set of Mozart’s Sonatas for Piano and Violin.
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